In so many cultures, the most interesting food is often found not in elaborate multicourse feasts, but instead in street foods and snacks. In India, chaat, basically savory treats and small meals, is a sort of equivalent of Spanish tapas or Mediterranean mezes. In its country of origin, chaat is often sold in carts or stalls, but in the United States, strip mall shops seem a popular chaat venue, where the food is often served alongside retail shelving for DVDs, groceries, and clothing. For years, a little storefront at the southeastern corner of Rural and University, a short walk from the University / Rural station, has seemed like the perfect venue for chaat. Signs in the windows have promised not only Indian merchandise, but also snacks. Nevertheless, a visitor's request for chaat drew only blank stares as recently as a year ago. Finally, in 2009, Preet's Chaat Corner has moved in and is delivering on this space's unfulfilled promised of South Asian treats.
Preet's is not the first Indian restaurant in this polyglot corner of Tempe. That distinction belongs to the Delhi Palace, which has existed for two decades just a few storefronts away. The two places couldn't be more distinct, however. Delhi Palace provides a fairly representative version of the typical Indian restaurant in America: emphasis on the food of the northern portion of the country, a buffet at lunch, numerous meat dishes, and an encouragement to order many courses and share them at dinner. The food also tends to be heavily sauced and salted in order to produce bold, easily identifiable flavors. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with this approach, but it overlooks the potential for a subtler experience with Indian food. That's where Preet's offers an alternative. The food is 100% vegetarian, the servings are generally a bit smaller, and the sweet and salty extremes of taste are downplayed in favor of more nuanced flavors.
Preet's shares space with a small market called India Bazaar, but a curtain clearly delineates the separately managed store from the restaurant. Preet's is tiny; the dining room has only four tables with another pushed up against the window and available in a pinch. The tables are unadorned, and there's no host station of any sort. In fact, it's not uncommon for the front of the house to be devoid of staff while the restaurant's owners cook in the back. Don't be discouraged upon entering an empty room, though. Instead, the best approach is to take matters into your own hands. Grab a cup of water at the self-service cooler, walk up to the front and ring the bell for service, and then occupy a table. It might even be worthwhile to take a menu from the front counter in order to start contemplating the meal to come in the few minutes it can take for someone to appear from the back room.
As the name implies, Preet's serves a lot of chaat, mostly fried hand foods like familiar samosas, the equivalent of egg rolls at most Indian restaurants; southern Indian treats like vadas, donut-shaped lentil fritters; and more exotic choices like Bombay bhel-poori, a savory snack that most closely resembles Rice Krispies. These items are all priced at a few dollars each, and a few combined would yield a full meal. For customers who would prefer to let the kitchen put together the best mix of dishes, the daily thali (center photo below) can't be beat. Each day, a sandwich board outside the restaurant specifies a vegetable curry that is combined with rice, dal, yogurt, pickle, and roti bread into a hearty special. Eggplant, bell peppers, tomatoes, and chick peas are all among the ingredients that might show up in any given thali. In addition to varying special entree, one entree on the menu every day is the Punjabi Cholay-Bhaturay, two pieces of poori, a puffy fried bread matched with a curry of chickpeas. Like most of the menu at Preet's, it's meatless but definitely not light eating.
While most of the cooking here is northern Indian, Preet's menu also includes a smattering of southern Indian food. A combination plate (right photo below) offers a masala dosa, essentially a crepe wrapped around a potato curry, and two idlis, slightly sour rice cakes. Sambar, a spicy lentil soup, and a coconut chutney are provided for dipping. Preet's has a limited menu, but the quality seems high across the regional variations represented. For dessert, look in the display case next to the cash register and pick out a sweet. Most veterans of Indian buffets will recognize gulab jamuns , the sugary, syrupy balls that resemble donut holes, but there are more interesting small pastries made with flavors like coconut. Drinks are all non-alcoholic. There are canned sodas, but why not enjoy a lassi in sweet, salty, or mango varieties? The lassis at Preet's taste fresher and less overwhelmingly sweet than elsewhere. Since it's almost impossible to spend more than $10 here, Preet's fits perfectly into the pattern of cheap international eats at Tempe's most diverse culinary corner.
933 E. University Dr., #115, Tempe AZ 85281 Map
(480) 784-4442
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